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Two cubs stuck inside bathroom of Estes Park home, now safely out

A couple of bear cubs were stuck inside the bathroom of an Estes Park home for nearly an hour Friday afternoon as the mother bear paced outside the residence.

The incident unfolded in the 1100 block of Rockwood Lane, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

The resident called the sheriff's office about 1:37 p.m. to report the incident, and deputies, parks rangers and animal control officers raced to the scene.

The cubs somehow broke into the home, and once they got into the bathroom, they were not able to get out. The sheriff's office said on Twitter the two cubs were "so small that they both fit in the bathroom sink."

The cubs got out of the home about an hour after being trapped, and they were high-tailing it out of the neighborhood with their mother, sheriff's spokesman John Schulz said.

A small dog was slightly injured by the mother bear, Schulz said.

Neighbor Pat Nieman said there were reports of a big black bear roaming the area last night, and this morning she got a call from another nearby resident who reported seeing two cubs and a mother bear downhill from the homes.

"I've been watching," Nieman said.

Nieman said bears are common in the area, and neighbors typically do a phone tree to alert each other if the animals are coming their way.

"If we see one, we watch which direction it's heading in and we call that person," said Nieman, who has lived on the block for 13 years.

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Residents typically lock things up tight when bears are prowling; it keeps the animals and people safe, Nieman said.